Chapter 10 - The Locked FloorThe gun was aimed through the glass.
I froze.
Ethan moved in front of me.
Detective Morgan drew her weapon.
“Step away from the door!”
My father didn't.
He simply smiled.
Then he turned and walked away.
“What is he doing?”
Detective Morgan ran to the door.
Locked.
She tried the security override.
Nothing.
“Someone has disabled the system.”
My mother began crying.
“I told you.”
“Tell me how to unlock it.”
“I don't know.”
“You've been here before.”
“Not this floor.”
A loud bang echoed through the hallway.
Everyone flinched.
The lights flickered back.
Then a scream came from down the corridor.
A nurse ran toward us.
“Help!”
“What happened?”
“There’s a man in the records room.”
Detective Morgan ran out.
Ethan stayed with me.
My mother stood beside the bed.
“Claire.”
I looked at her.
“I am so sorry.”
“For what?”
“For everything.”
“Tell me the truth.”
She nodded.
“The trust wasn't created to give your daughter money.”
I waited.
“It was created to protect her.”
“From Bellhaven?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your grandmother discovered what Crown actually was.”
“What?”
“Not a gene.”
I frowned.
“A gene?”
“No.”
She looked toward the door.
“It's a biological marker linked to a specific bloodline.”
“Whose?”
“Your grandmother's.”
“Then why does Bellhaven want it?”
“They believe it can be used to manipulate fetal development.”
I felt sick.
“They want to control babies.”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
My mother whispered:
“Selective enhancement.”
Ethan looked horrified.
“What does that mean?”
“Intelligence. Memory. Disease resistance. Physical development.”
“Human experimentation.”
“Yes.”
“And my daughter?”
“She has the strongest marker they've ever documented.”
A noise came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
My father.
He entered.
But the gun was gone.
He looked at my mother.
“You had one job.”
She stepped back.
“I won't let you kill her.”
My father smiled.
“You already helped me.”
“What?”
He looked at me.
“Did she tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“Your mother was the one who put the sedative in your tea.”
My mother began crying.
I stared at her.
“Mom?”
“She forced me,” she whispered.
My father stepped closer.
“She's lying.”
He looked at the doctor.
“Prepare the operating room.”
The doctor didn't move.
My father pulled out the gun.
“Now.”
Detective Morgan appeared behind him.
“Drop it.”
He froze.
Then he smiled.
“You're too late.”
He pointed toward my stomach.
“The procedure has already begun.”
I looked at the monitor.
My baby's heart rate suddenly disappeared.
I screamed.
“No!”
The doctor rushed toward me.
“She's still there!”
Then he looked at the machine.
“This isn't the baby monitor.”
“What?”
He unplugged the device.
The heartbeat returned.
My father smiled.
“You see?”
He wasn't trying to kill my daughter.
He was trying to scare us.
Then Detective Morgan spotted something attached to his wrist.
A remote control.
She lunged.
The gun fired.
The bullet missed.
But my father hit the button.
The hospital doors unlocked.
Dozens of armed men flooded the corridor.
May you like
My father looked at me.
“It's time to finish what your grandmother started.”
